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Friday, 4 September 2015

First global satellite high speed mobile broadband service

Full global service by end of 2015 by three Inmarsat satellites

The Inmarsat-5 F3 satellite will cover the Pacific Ocean Region and will, together with Inmarsat-5 F1 and Inmarsat-5 F2, create what the company says is “the world’s first globally available, high-speed mobile broadband service, delivered through a single provider”.

Global Xpress will deliver broadband speeds around 100 times faster than the company’s fourth generation constellation, offering services for customers in both the public and private sectors, especially in the most remote and inaccessible regions of the world.

The completion of the Global Xpress constellation will be a significant milestone for our organisation and is fundamental to the delivery of a new era in mobile satellite communications which will change the future for us all, said Rupert Pearce, CEO of Inmarsat.

We are particularly pleased that GX will support vital programmes enabling governments to meet the rapidly changing requirements of our world, added Pearce, including the transformation of remote societies that are currently inadequately served by terrestrial networks. Inmarsat expects to commence global commercial GX services by the end of the year.

The Inmarsat-5 satellites operate with a combination of fixed narrow spot beams to deliver higher speeds through more compact terminals, plus steerable beams so additional capacity can be directed in real-time to where it’s needed. They work in the Ka-band but also integrate with Inmarsat’s L-band network.